Hidden documents that have been locked away for more than two decades reveal that the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella does cause autism, and regulators, drug executives and various others have known about this for a long time.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in the UK has forced the Department of Health to release confidential documents outlining the details of MMR’s initial approval back in the 1980s. These documents reveal that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine Pluserix, knew that there were problems with the vaccine causing a high rate of adverse events in children. Among these were encephalitis and other conditions associated with autism.

Concerned that the British government was withholding information about MMR’s dangers from the public, the FOIA request was filed in response to the growing number of vaccinated children who were coming down with debilitating gut problems, brain damage and other symptoms believed to be associated with MMR. As it turns out, these suspicions are now validated.

“We have compensated cases in which children exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease,” admitted Tina Cheatham, Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in an email to CBS News‘ Sharyl Attkisson. “Encephalopathy may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures.”

CDC, Pediatrics, US government and Merck all admit MMR vaccine causes autism

This admission is huge, as encephalopathy following vaccination is a known trigger of autistic symptoms, and something that the confidential documents from the UK also admit. GSK, the British government and various other players all kept this information under wraps, even after brave souls like Dr. Andrew Wakefield came forward publicly with data linking the MMR vaccine to autism-related health outcomes.

Reading between the lines, health authorities have, in fact, linked MMR to autism — but they won’t come right out and say it. Rubella, for instance, the German measles component of MMR, has been known to be a cause of autism since the 1960s. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has admitted this publicly, as has the National Immunization Program (now the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases). Even Merck & Co. a major manufacturer of MMR vaccines, has admitted that vaccines in general can cause autism.

“[R]ubella (congenital rubella syndrome) is one of the few proven causes of autism,” stated Walter A. Orenstein, M.D., former Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the National Immunization Program, in a 2002 letter to the UK’s Chief Medical Officer.

“[R]ubella virus is one of the few known causes of autism,” explained the CDC on its “FAQs (frequently asked questions) about MMR Vaccine & Autism” page, which has since been removed from public view. It is still available in some web archives.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., the current President of Merck’s Vaccines Division, is also on record as admitting that people with a predisposition to mitochondrial dysfunction can develop autism following vaccination. A minimum of 20 percent of vaccine-induced autism cases are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.

“Now, we all know that vaccines can occasionally cause fevers in kids,” stated Dr. Gerberding back in 2008 during a segment on House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta titled “Unraveling the Mystery of Autism.”

“So if a child was immunized, got a fever, had other complications from the vaccines. And if you’re predisposed with the mitochondrial disorder, it can certainly set off some damage. Some of the symptoms can be symptoms that have characteristics of autism.”